Monday, February 4, 2019

Safe Injection Sites

This item is a policy statement from the Colorado Republicans:

There are
no heroin injection
sites in the United
States and we don't need
the first to be here in
Colorado. Even the
Governor of California
has vetoed legislation
similar to the bill
Colorado Democrats in
the state legislature
have discussed
introducing. The Denver
City Council has already
passed an ordinance
allowing for such sites,
but it can’t be
implemented unless and
until the state changes
state law.

Today, House and Senate
Republicans hosted
Steffan Tubbs, Peter
Boyles, and Mark Crowley
to share what they’ve
learned about
Vancouver's injection
sites. The pictures and
data they gathered on
their investigative
trip, and which they
shared today, underscore
the danger such a
proposed site would pose
to Colorado. For
example, as they shared
in their presentation
today:

Since Vancouver's first injection
site in 2003,
British Columbia's
overdose deaths
have increased by
more than 725%.

Overdose deaths of British
Columbians 10 - 18
years old are up
260%.

The number of heroin users in
Vancouver is up from
4,700 overall in
2000 to over
7,300 at just one of
the six injection
sites in 2017.

Your House and Senate
Republicans will
continue to take a stand
as this issue emerges at
the Capitol. You can see
Minority Leader
Neville's interview here on
why injection sites are
bad policy. A policy
that incentivizes
self-destructive
behavior and increases
the number of overdose
deaths is the opposite
of compassionate.

For more details, data,
and documentation on the
effects of heroin
injection sites on
individuals and
neighborhoods, you can
visit KNUS's "No Safe
Sites" page here.

After thinking about this for a bit, I'm inclined to conditionally take the opposite position.
1. Any and all such sites must be located at least 1/2 mile from any principally residential area. This will reduce the crime for the residents. Ideally I would like to see this done in City Park, in the block immediately West of the capitol building between the capitol building and City Hall. I am reliably informed that heroin and cocaine are pretty much freely sold at the nearby McDonalds, one on 16th st and one on East Colfax.

This puts everything within a block or so of the capitol building. Unfortunately it is also adjacent to the Denver public library which is already over run with just the sort of people you'd expect.

2. The result, as Sen Neville points out, would be death and destruction among the users who would have no check on their behaviors at all. Lots and lots of them would wind up dead. Is this compassionate? It is for the rest of us. It would probably spur a big increase in CCW applications from the residents 1-2 blocks away as well as an increase in Republican voter registrations or at least conservative unaffiliateds. Overall, a win for the good guys.